Daily Tribune
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan tours the media around the newly renovated OFW Lounge at NAIA Terminal 3 on Monday, 1 September 2025. The revamped lounge for OFWs features multiple charging stations, complimentary drinks and snacks, an air-conditioned "business class" area for comfort, and a dedicated staff to maintain cleanliness and organization. OFWs facing delayed or missed flights will also have access to hotel-quality rooms, complete with massage chairs and bathrooms while they wait for their rescheduled flights.
Photograph by John Carlo Magallon for DAILY TRIBUNE
Senator Raffy Tulfo asked the Japanese Government to open more opportunities to Filipino nurses and transport workers.
During the recently concluded 151st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, Switzerland, Tulfo held a bilateral meeting with the Japanese delegation led by Hon. Fujii Kazuhiro.
Tulfo, chair of the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers, discussed the plight of 50,706 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Japan with Kazuhiro as he thanked the Japanese official for its good treatment of the OFWs in their country.
For his part, Kazuhiro expressed his gratitude to Tulfo for the significant contribution of Filipino workers in Japan.
As such, Tulfo recommended to Kazuhiro the opening of more employment opportunities for Filipino nurses in Japan, which he said would greatly help in providing care for the elderly in their country.
He also promised to personally coordinate with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to facilitate the hiring of Filipino nurses in Japan.
Kazuhiro, meanwhile, assured that the Japanese government is ready to accept Filipino nurses and assist them in acquiring advanced skills in patient care.
Tulfo also stressed the importance of critical infrastructure projects by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the Philippines, such as the North-South Commuter Railway Project and the Subway Project, to expand the country’s public transport system.
He also praised Japan’s public mass transit system, particularly its trains, and suggested that Filipino transport workers could be recruited to work in Japan, which he could also coordinate with the DMW.
Both sides are committed to continued collaboration to implement joint efforts in the future regarding public transport systems that will benefit both countries.
